SALINAS, Calif.- Monterey County Sheriff deputies arrested Leonardo Garcia of Soledad for having and selling meth. It may not seem like a big deal, but his fate could be determined by the state's new and controversial prison realignment plan.
"Drug dealing is the type of offense that is quite likely to land you in prison...Used to be and it's not anymore," said Monterey County District Attorney supervisor Berkley Brannon. He couldn't talk about Leonardo Garcia's case specifically, but said before AB109 the quickest way to prison was to sell drugs.
Now, "The only way a drug dealer is going to prison is if the drug dealer either had a weapon or sold to minors, other than that drug dealing is not prison eligible," said Brannon.
So now, would Garcia do time at the local jail or back on the street, under the watchful but busy eye of the probation department? Garcia won't know for sure until he goes before a judge, but Brannon said a new part of AB109 is "split-sentencing."
"The court can select a period of time in the county jail and then after that the person can be out on mandatory supervision."
Something Brannon said not only law enforcement will have to get used to, "It may have a huge impact on the public because these people instead of being in prison, these people are out, they may commit more crimes."
Monterey County said there are four current inmates that would've gone to state prison, but were shifted to the local jail, because of the new plan.
